Boston's Black and Queer content creators are changing the game in our city, where voices like this have been traditionally underserved.
photo by: Amanda Shea
Amanda Shea is a three-time Boston Music Award-winning spoken word artist whose work lives at the intersection of poetry, music, social justice and culture. Her art blends spoken word with everything from hip-hop and jazz to opera and rock, and has been featured by WBUR, the MFA, TEDx and more.
Photo BY: Anjimile
Anjimile is an indie-folk artist based in Boston who has been featured in Rolling Stone, NPR, Fader, Pitchfork and more. A two-time Boston Music Awards winner and WBUR’s 2018 Best Massachusetts Entry of the Tiny Desk Concert, Anjimile has a natural gift for music.
PHOTO BY: Billy Dean Thomas
Billy Dean Thomas, AKA “The Queer B.I.G.,” is a hip-hop recording artist and producer born and raised in Harlem, but currently residing in Boston. Billy Dean Thomas challenges the music industry with quick-witted punchlines that highlight intersectional feminism, social justice and life in a gentrified city.
PHOTO BY: Brandie Blaze
Brandie Blaze is a local hip-hop artist. A proud feminist, she radiates messages of female empowerment from her music. Her powerful lyrics are laid over trap beats, making them club-ready, female-praising bangers you’ll want to get up and move to.
PHOTO BY: Lavagxrl
LAVAGXRL is a rapper, dance producer, noise artist, DJ and visual artist — not to mention an audio engineer who’s always pushing creative boundaries in New England.
PHOTO BY: Oompa
Oompa is a nationally-acclaimed, Boston-born poet, rapper and educator, representing the queer, black, orphaned, hood kids. Oompa's accolades include a spot on the list of Most Influential Bostonians, one of NPR's 2020 Slingshot Artists to Watch and a Boston Music Award for 2019's Live Act of the Year.
PHOTO BY: Sound Of Boston
Get lost in space with Optic Bloom's low-key electronic music, which saw them nominated for New Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards. As legend goes, members Flowerthief and Dephrase were so amazed by each other’s talent that they joined to form Optic Bloom.
PHOTO BY: Allston Pudding
Pink Navel claims to be Boston's cutest non-binary rapper and producer. They came up playing in punk and emo bands. Their experimental tendencies bring lo-fi quirk to dreamy, intimate hip-hop beats, topped off with their syncopated rap flow.
PHOTO BY: The Boston Globe
Red Shaydez is a Boston-born hip-hop artist, lyricist, and filmmaker. A woman of countless talents, she has taken home accolades at the Boston Music Awards and has been widely praised by outlets such as MTV, Boston 25 News, Boston Magazine, The Boston Globe, NPR Music, and more. She makes cool seem effortless and always brings the heat to every performance.
photo by: punky
Punky is a Pride Ambassador for Boston Urban Pride. Raised in Dorchester, he's a member of the Boston Black Pride committee and helps curate the best experience for Boston's black and brown communities.
Know an artist who should be featured? Hit us up: [email protected]
updated February 2026
